in the wacky world we live in, some people think i'm smart and others think i'm a leader (and a majority don't even know who i am). while i don't take complements easily, someone over at the British Council thinks i've got the right stuff. this weekend, i'm participating in TN2020's inaugural summit in Northern Ireland.

the goal of this transatlantic network is to build and foster a community of young leaders for the next 12 YEARS!! yeah, can you imagine what i'm going to be doing in the year 2020!?! for every year in between, the network seeks to find 100 new peeps and foster a global conversation interlinking the atlantic into some futurist natoEUnaftaWTO thing. ok, i'm only kidding on the one world government thing.

while some of my friends have express reservations participating in a global summit hosted by the british government, i can't be more delighted. the list of fellow participants reads like a crazy list of future Prime Misters, Judges, Media Executives, and revolutionaries (from the left and the right). for example, Zadi Diaz from EpicFU (who nominated me), Jeff Johnson from BET, Bethan Jenkins the youngest member of UK's parliament, Anjula Singh who helps directs the BBC's Asia service, and Tofer Harrison staff assistant to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

but here's the thing about this summit, andrew kneale and other organizers have clearly stated that the future is up to us. for the week, we'll be using twitter, youtube, flickr, friendfeed and facebook to communicate to the outside world. the goal is not to silo the conversation, but to extend it to the rest of the world. currently, the communications framework is limited by budget, but the goals are grand. (if you are a maven and have a few tips, email me.)

so onto the couch thing. thursday, i depart new york city and will arrive in belfast on friday morning. i could go to a hotel/hostel, but since i don't have a job AND i want to grow my social network beyond this young leader thing. does anyone have a friend in belfast who can show me around in exchange for a nice dinner and stories from around the world?

if so email the noel at noneck-dot-org